Growth of smartphones in Nigeria is driven by availability of broadband

Mr Emmanouil Revmatas, is the Director of Information and Mobility, Samsung Electronics West Africa. In this interview with Emeka Aginam during the launch of Galaxy S7 edge and S7 series recently in Lagos, he spoke on a number of what Samsung Is doing to improve the lives of Nigerias. Noting that competition in the high end segment of the market for smartphones is very stiff, he said that huge growth of of smartphones in Nigeria is driven by availability of broadband.

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Introduction of new devices in the smart phone market

Revmatas highlighting the features of Sansug Gear VR during the launch of the S7 smartphones recently

Samsung as a brand has become synonymous with innovation. Our Galaxy S range is also regarded as the premium smartphone. Introducing the new Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and S7 is our commitment to our customers to meet their ever-evolving technology needs in the fast-paced world we live in. Samsung did not just redefine these devices, but also re-imagined what they could do based on the feedback from the people who use them, and what they need most from the devices. Our customers are the inspiration for any innovation.

The Galaxy S7 series have been adjudged as stunning in both visual appeal and handling. Are the devices really as fine inside as they are on the outside? What are the major features that stand out?

The key differentiators for the S7 edge and S7 range from IP68 water and dust resistance feature, which allows for submersion in up to 1.5meters of water for 30 minutes at a time.

The S7 comes with 3,000mAh battery, while the S7 edge has 3,600mAh batteries which are great improvements from the S6. They also come with 4GB of RAM for improved multitasking and 30 percent more powerful processors with “thermal spreader” water-cooling technology to avoid the phones overheating.

Both devices have support for microSD cards augmenting their 32GB of internal storage. The microSD card space can also be used as a second SIM slot for those who want to use two SIM cards on their device.

Gear virtual reality headset

The Gear VR is a virtual reality headset that allows you to clip in your Samsung device and transport yourself to another galaxy by either playing a virtual reality game or watching a fully immersive and interactive movie, or your own video that you have captured on your Gear 360 camera.

Competition in the high end segment of the market for smartphones is very stiff. The phones are mainly running on the Android operating system except of course Apple’s iOS. Since all Android-based phones are basically running on the same platform, why should one be preferred to the other?

Rather than answer this, I would prefer to say, let the consumer decide based on their own needs and wants.

Huge growth of smart phones in Nigeria

In fact, approximately 70 percent of the market is still feature phone based even though there is a significant growth year-on-year of smartphones.

The huge growth is being driven by availability of broadband. Nigeria often leapfrogs technologies evidenced by the fact that most people will never have a landline. Another factor driving adoption is investment in 3G, and more recently LTE, coverage and capacity. A third factor is that smartphones are becoming more affordable and in addition, the need for people to be connected is also driving growth. Nigeria ranks extremely high in terms of social media trends and activity.

Without full broadband network in addition to the not-so-pleasant internet connectivity in Nigeria, do you think Nigerians are really optimising the benefits of smartphones like the Galaxy series?

I think the experience of smartphone users in Nigeria is improving every day. Furthermore, many of the great features on the Galaxy do not always require internet connectivity.

With the world gradually moving into the era of Internet of Things, with virtually everything having connectivity to the internet, which role do you see the smartphone playing in this milieu?

A device that allows seamless integration of various tools, apps, wearable devices as well as household products.

Smartphones are loaded with all kinds of features, with some, like the S7 requiring biometric data to enhance the security of the device and the information stored therein. How safe are users’ data since the storage of such data are most likely cloud-based and outside the shores of this country?

All our premium devices come pre-loaded with Knox – a new Android-based solution specifically designed to enhance security of the current open source Android platform. Knox has received superb reviews.

Future of smartphones five years down the line

Our personalised device that can manage and connect to what, when and where we want. This could range from our TV or fridge to smart watches as such as the Gear S2 or virtual reality like the Gear VR, to gaming and now recording experiences using the brand new Samsung Gear 360 camera.

Android based phones and data consumption

Perception is not always reality. Perhaps, as research has shown, the ease of using Android-based phones means that consumers access the internet and do a lot more with their devices and therefore consume more data because of higher usage.International Electrotech-nical Commission assessment of S7 series

An IP, which is “Ingress Protection” rating, can only be achieved after a rigorous assessment has been confirmed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The code is defined by the IEC who state that IP68, which the S7 is, can be immersed up to 1.5m for 30 minutes.

Protecting devices from accidental damage

As many know we were the initiators of this concept several years back, but now many retailers are offering this service in one form or another.

After sales support

Depending on the nature of the problem, when a customer has an issue and takes their device to our service centres, which are located across Nigeria, the Service Consultant will advise whether the glitch is in or out of warranty. As you also know, we continue to be the only brand that offers a 24-month warranty.

What is next for Samsung Galaxy series

You will have to wait and see, but you can be guaranteed that we will continue to innovate and shape the future!